The present invention relates to methods and kits for forming customized solderless cables for transmitting direct current (DC) electricity. The present invention further relates to the cables produced by such methods.
As is well-known in the art, electricity is typically transmitted via alternating current (AC) or direct current (DC). DC works by supplying a constant electric voltage, from which most devices will draw a constant electric current. Along those lines, most modern electronics require direct current in order to operate.
In many instances, electronic devices requiring DC are adapted to draw power from a battery—a common source of direct current—or otherwise receive DC transmission from a source operative to convert AC to DC. The latter approach is considered far more favorable as AC power is the predominant form of electricity transmission made publicly accessible and further, eliminates the need to rely upon batteries as the DC power source, which would otherwise require frequent replacement or recharging on a routine basis.
To facilitate the ability to transmit DC to an electronic device, numerous standardized cables have been developed. Perhaps the most common of such cables is the 2.1 mm×5.5 mm DC cable operative to interconnect with male and female plugs/sockets. Such cables come in a wide variety of lengths and are typically provided with either a straight or right-angle plug configuration.
Despite the widespread availability of such cables, however, there is not yet presently available any type of system and method by which customized DC cables can be easily and readily created, as well as created in a manner that results in an exceptionally durable cable that is structurally robust, capable of long product life and is designed to deliver a maximum degree of current transmission. There is particularly lacking such a system and method for creating a DC cable that dispenses with the need to form a solder connection between the respective plugs formed on the end of such cable and the cable through which electricity is transmitted.
Due to the lack of any systems and methods for forming such DC cables, numerous difficulties have arisen in a number of applications. Exemplary of the difficulties associated with using standardized DC cables include the supply of power to multiple guitar effects pedals operatively combined with one another as part of an effects pedalboard. As is well-known to those skilled in the art, guitar effects pedals are utilized extensively in connection with electric guitar amplification and are operative to modify the signal transmitted from the electric guitar to a guitar amplifier. Such pedals are designed to impart effects such as distortion, chorus, delay, flange and numerous others as can be selectively chosen by the player. Typically, each pedal is responsible for a single effect, and a plurality of pedals are arranged in a particular sequence upon a pedalboard, which can take countless different forms, spatial arrangements, different types of pedals of different sizes made by a variety of manufacturers that are all dependent upon the particular tastes of the guitarist (and often times the guitarist's guitar tech).
Given the drastic variation in the layout and configuration of the specific guitar effects pedals upon a pedalboard, substantial difficulty arises in supplying power to each specific effects pedal. As discussed above, the use of batteries is completely impractical as it is far too labor intensive and time consuming to continuously monitor and replace the numerous number of batteries that would be used in connection with such pedals. The use of standard DC cables to run power from an AC to DC conversion electricity source is likewise problematic insofar as the spatial arrangement of the effects pedals, as discussed above, can vary greatly and standardized cables provide no means whatsoever to customize the same to a specific length as would be desirable for such applications.
While the ability to make custom DC cables can be readily accomplished, such task typically involves the step of soldering the plugs to the respective ends of the wire forming the cable. Such process, however, is time consuming, requires soldering equipment, skill in knowing how to properly solder and carries risk of injury given the heat and melting of solder needed to form an ideal electrical connection.
Accordingly, there is a substantial need in the art for systems and methods that enable a customized DC cable to be easily and readily fabricated. There is likewise a need in the art for such systems and methods that rely on a simple, easily understood construction, fast and exceedingly simple to assemble, capable of being precisely customized to exact specifications, and operative to produce cables that are exceptionally durable and capable of maximizing current flow therethrough and without the need for soldering.